Four goals from freshman Englishman Callum Niven helped propel the No. 7 Neosho County Panthers to a 5-nil victory over the Hesston Larks in KJCCC action on Saturday afternoon at home.
Niven had two goals in the first half, including a penalty kick, that gave the Panthers a 2-nil advantage at half. He then scored twice more in the second half, with his goals bookending one from Paul Eder.
“There’s been games this season where I didn’t play as well as I thought I should have,” Niven said. “I haven’t been as clinical as I should have been. So it was great for confidence to have games like this.”
The four goals for Niven marked a season high as he’s tallied seven in total for the year.
“As a freshman, he’s come in and done very well,” Neosho County head coach Eliott Chadderton said. “He holds a lot of qualities that we look for in players. He scored five goals this week. He’s a good person that does the right things and I’m very happy for him.”
Chadderton harped on his club the value of preserving a clean sheet in a fiery pregame speech, one the Panthers held up.
“In the first half, we did OK,” Chadderton said. “We could’ve moved the ball quicker. But playing into the wind, it’s always difficult when it’s windy. I knew in the second half, I knew we’d be able to stay a little higher and make it into a game of winning first and second balls, which we’re pretty good at. Ending up with five goals, I’m very happy.”
The win moved Neosho County to 6-1-2 overall on the season — the Panthers haven’t been beaten since a Sept. 1 loss to No. 1 Iowa Lakes.
“We’re in a really good place,” Niven said. “We put five goals past a good team and kept a clean sheet. It’s good to see that mentality. We’re really confident going into the next few games.”
Up next
It’s a big week for the Panthers, who host Pratt on Wednesday before traveling to Overland Park on Saturday to face No. 8 Johnson County.
Neosho County bested Johnson County, 4-2, on Sept. 11. If the Panthers finish the season sweep, they’ll be the betting favorites to win an outright KJCCC title.
“The biggest thing we’ve said to the guys is taking it a day at a time,” Chadderton said. “We need to worry about Pratt, and then we move on to Johnson County. We can’t look past Pratt because that’s a tough match on Wednesday. But with the squad we’ve got, we can beat anybody when we’re at our best. We’ve got to continue the momentum we’ve built up.”
